ALAN LADD - AUTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: PATRICIA NEAL, SUE CAROL LADD, VIRGINIA MAYO, ANNA NEAGLE, MICHAEL O'SHEA - HFSID 80017

ALAN LADD, SUE CAROL LADD, MICHAEL O'SHEA, VIRGINIA MAYO, PATRICIA NEAL and ANNA NEAGLE
Ink signatures on a printed card of the Cunard ocean liner Mauretania.
Printed Card signed in ink: "Sue Carol Ladd", "Michael O'Shea", "Virginia Mayo", "Patricia Neal", "Alan Ladd" and "Anna Neagle", 3½x5. Card bears printed caption: "Cunard White Star/M.S. Mauretania." With his icy good looks and a resonant voice, ALAN LADD (1913-1964) starred in entertaining adventures featuring him bare-chested and in fistfights. In 1942, he landed a major role in This Gun for Hire opposite Veronica Lake. Ladd quickly became a major star, and was teamed with Lake in other films -- all hits. On the Top Ten box-office attractions list in 1947, 1953 and 1954, Ladd continued to star in films throughout the 1950s. SUE CAROL LADD (1906-1982) appeared on screen in several films (Girls Gone Wild, 1929) before founding her own talent agency, the Sue Carol Agency. She married Alan Ladd in 1942, remaining his wife and manager until his death. VIRGINIA MAYO (1920-2005) performed on ballet and vaudevilles stages and in chorus lines before entering films. She starred in comic roles opposite Bob Hope (The Princess and the Pirate, 1944) and in four Danny Kaye films, including Wonder Man (1945). Some of her performances might be described as campy, including her Cleopatra in The Story of Mankind (1957) and King Richard and the Crusaders (1955). She delivered critically praised performances as the unfaithful wife of returning war veteran Dana Andrews in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and as gangster James Cagney's gun moll in White Heat (1949). In 1947, Mayo married MICHAEL O'SHEA (1906-1973), with whom she had appeared in the film Jack London (1943). They remained a couple until his death. Perhaps best known for playingBarbara Stanwyck's boyfriend in the 1943 film, Lady of Burlesque, O'Shea also starred in the 1955 TV sitcom, It's A Great Life. A leading lady of American plays and film, PATRICIA NEAL (b. 1926) debuted on Broadway in The Voice of the Turtle (1946). Her performance in the play, Another Part of the Forest, got the attention of Hollywood, and she made her screen debut in a light farce, John Loves Mary, in 1949. That same year she was impressive in The Fountainhead opposite Gary Cooper, whom she later said was the great love of her life. After marrying British writer Roald Dahl in 1953, Neal disappeared from the screen for several years, returning in 1957's A Face in the Crowd, after which she was more selective in choosing her film roles. For her performance in Hud (1963), she won the Best Actress Academy Award. In 1965, Neal suffered a massive series of strokes that left her confined to a wheelchair, semi-paralyzed and nearly unable to speak. Over the next several years, she made a remarkable recovery, returning to the screen in The Subject Was Roses (1968), for which she received another Best Actress Oscar nomination. That year, she was presented with the "Heart of the Year" Award by President Johnson. ANNA NEAGLE (1904-1986) moved from dance roles to acting in the theatre and then onto movie screens. Extremely popular in her native England, Neagle's early films were all directed by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943. Neagle specialized in light comedies, but could play roles as diverse as Queen Victoria and Peter Pan. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1970. A SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF ALL THESE CELEBRITIES, EXCEPT NEAGLE, ABOARD THE SAME LINER, CAN BE VIEWED ON THIS WEB SITE. There is also a signed photo of the Ladds together on the same ship. R.M.S. Mauretania, the second ocean liner of that name, sailed from 1939 to 1965. Mayo's signature very slightly smudged. Otherwise, fine condition.